Canada’s two largest telecom service providers have raised concerns about device theft in recent submissions to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Rogers and Bell, Canada’s largest and second-largest telecom service providers in terms of subscribers respectively, used their submissions to a CRTC public proceeding on device unlocking in Canada launched by a PIAC inquiry to express worries that the December 2017 unlocking fee ban has led to an increase in fraudulent activity. Rogers referenced lost UPS handset shipments, while Bell spoke to “multiple instances of armed robberies” at retail locations. “Unlocked, new devices untied to a service contract are easily sellable in both the grey and black markets across North America and internationally,” reads an excerpt from Bell’s submission to the CRTC. “It appears that illegal activity may have shifted from the U.S. to Canada as some U.S. carriers have begun to lock devices.” Rogers said that it had witnessed a 100 percent increase in the volume of missing devices in the six-month period since the CRTC’s unlocking fee ban came into effect on December 1st, 2017. “Such claims are received when a customer orders a handset directly through Rogers and the package is never received at the intended delivery destination,” reads an excerpt from Rogers’ CRTC submission. “We believe this trend is attributed to the availability of unlocked devices from service providers which make these handsets more desirable to fraudsters and thieves.” Bell added that it plans on returning to its previous practice of stocking certain devices… [Read full story]